Mark Allen has slammed the World Snooker Tour's decision to give 57-year old Jimmy White a tour card for 2021.
White, whose last win a ranking even came in the 2003/04 season, has been handed an invitational card to compete on the tour for the next two years.
WST chairman Barry Hearn and World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association chairman Jason Ferguson explained in a joint statement:
Jimmy is one of snooker's one-time greats, not only in terms of his achievements on the table, but also in his massive worldwide popularity.
He has done so much to promote snooker through his playing style and charisma. He remains a great asset to our sport and we had no hesitation in offering him a tour card for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.
However, world number 13 Allen certainly did not approve of the decision.
He took to Twitter to label White's inclusion on the tour as 'shocking', saying every player needs to earn their spot regardless of past achievements.
No doubt I’ll face backlash again for saying this but the announcement of the Jimmy white wildcard is shocking. Nothing against Jimmy personally but some awful decisions being made right now by @WeAreWST
— Mark Allen (@pistol147) April 11, 2021
I don’t agree with wildcards full stop. EVERYONE should earn their spots in my opinion. Marco Fu is a whole different story as COVID has prevented him from competing this season
— Mark Allen (@pistol147) April 11, 2021
No doubt I’ll face backlash again for saying this but the announcement of the Jimmy white wildcard is shocking. Nothing against Jimmy personally but some awful decisions being made right now by (World Snooker Tour)...
I don’t agree with wildcards full stop. EVERYONE should earn their spots in my opinion. Marco Fu is a whole different story as COVID has prevented him from competing this season.
White was recently defeated in the first round of the World Championship qualifiers last week by Stephen Hendry, another player who was recently handed an invitational tour card.
Ken Doherty and Marco Fu have also been invited to take part in this season's tour.
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